57 Indians own 70% of India’s wealth

DAVOS – In signs of rising income inequality, India’s richest 1% now hold a huge 58%of the country’s total wealth – higher than the global figure of about 50%, a new studyshowed on Monday. The study, released by rights group Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting here – which is attended by the rich and powerful from across the world – showed that just 57 billionaires in India now have same wealth ($216 billion) as that of the bottom 70% population of the country. Globally, just eight billionaires have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50% of the world population. The study said there are 84 billionaires in India, with a collective wealth of $248 billion, led by Mukesh Ambani ($19.3 billion), Dilip Shanghvi ($16.7 billion) and Azim Premji ($15 billion). The total Indian wealth in the country stood at $3.1 trillion.